pulled/spasmed hamstring

[t12_incomplete]

I just workded on a client with a pulled/spasmed hamstring.
This is the second injury of this kind to the same area.
The client was not able to totally straighten out the leg or put weight on it.

There were spams in the hamstring, in the calf and in the hip muscles.

I did cross fiber and Stuart Taws/Michael Young stretches and a little bit of Jin Shin Jyutsu in the end.

Well, there was no release.
I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to a more effective way of dealing with it.

 

[Snowfire]

I know that usually I do not answer posts in this forum as I have not started school yet and am obviously not a doctor but what about adding some heat to the area before you start working on it and then work on it for a bit then repeat? Just a thought but it might help ease the pain a bit and make it easier for release of the muscle. Just my thoughts Good Luck.

 

[MikeE]

Ok firstly you need to be a bit clearer in your mind as to what the actual condition is.
A "pulled' Hamstring is a laymans term which does not tell you a lot.
You need to decide if it is a muscle which has actually been torn (strain) or has just gone into spasm without a tear.
How long is it since the incident which caused the condition?
If the muscle is actually strained, and it is a recent injury(within a few days), then your role may be to educate on first aid rather than treat.
Heat is out in this situation, and the body needs time to heal the tear rather than intervention.
The muscle spasm may be a protective mechanism to resist further injury and it may not be time yet for it to release.

 

[Keyshon B]

This client was not evaluated by anyone besides herself.
The area doesn't look of feel swollen or warm to the touch.
She has been icing it and will start alternating hot and cold treatments.

How could she be sure it is not a tear without going to a physician?

 

[Due March 23 2010]

How long ago was the injury?
The chance are that it probably was a tear or strain .
When I use that term though it does not necessrily mean a complete or 100% tear of the muscle, but of some of the fibres.

 

[rockin_robin07]

it happened a few days ago.
I'm sure in a case like that some fibers are torn, but it is not bruised, swollen, or has any visible (red/hot) sign of accute inflamation.
It is spasmed and kind of locked, in a way that she can't flex and extend the hamstrings completely.

Besides cross fiber, and stretches, do you have any suggestions as to how to procced? Do you have experience with this kind of injuries?
I have worked with injuries from sports and also post surgery recovery and have had success with these two techniques. But I haven't seen someone with such intense spasm on the hamstrings before, so I'm looking for suggestions from people that might have encoutered this in their practice.

 

[Adam]

Other techniques I would use are compression to the muscle belly. I like to do It with the palm of one hand backed with the other hand.
I would use the cross fibre work at the strain location only
I also find that post isometric relaxation stretches are great for hamstrings, starting with bent leg and then straight leg stretches.
If you need detais say so.

 

[snowboarding1236]

Try to simply relax the spasmed muscle. Prolonged light effleurage might ease some of the tension, where deeper work will just cause more muscle armoring.

When a muscle is in spasm, stretching the aneforum.xxxonist is in order. That approximates the spasming muscle so that it does not have to *fight* to be shortened. Any deeper work should be done with the muscle in the shortened position, after the spasm has relaxed.

 

[maniqui79]

thank you both for your responses.

re: the cross-fiber, I do Pfrimmer deep muscle therapy which is a technique that works on the whole muscle. In the case of this client, the spasm actually seemed to "move" from the distal attachments to the proximal, and to the proximal att of the gastrocs, besides hip rotators and some fibers of the gluteous max. So it would have been difficult to "isolate" areas.
re: the stretches, I don't know if you are familiar with Stuart Taws/Michael Young work. The stretches are donne together with compression for 2 seconds.
In both cases I worked within the comfort zone. I don't like to work in the pain zone.
I did not do any stretches for the quads, and that is a great suggestions.
I would love more, if anyone has experinece with this kind of situation.
Thanks so much

 

[erik s]

Check the structural alignment of the pelvis.